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Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Tennis News

‘Novak Djokovic does not make people dream like Roger Federer does,’ says ATP veteran


Novak Djokovic does not have a game that makes anyone ‘dream,’ according to Gilles Simon – but Roger Federer does.

Djokovic is part of the ‘big three’ with Federer and Rafael Nadal, although he enjoys much less mainstream popularity than his rivals.

And that, according to Simon, is not down to substance, it’s down to style.

“It’s okay to sell Federer to everyone because it’s admirable in so many ways,” Simon told the French media.

“But a Novak Djokovic is also admirable. Except that with him, we especially want to remember that he is not Federer.

“Everyone would like Roger to be the greatest of all time. Because the public first loves a player for his game.

“Then, he projects it on his personality. With Federer, everything fits. With Djoko, no. His game does not make anyone dream.

“And he suffers from it, as in the Wimbledon final against Federer, where he has the whole public against him. It must be hard for him.

“Perhaps he should have played his “character” thoroughly. Like Andy Murray did, in the self-sacrifice side, beating that which never lets go, even if it means being painful.

“With Djokovic, we would have liked him to take the wrong role: I’m going to beat everyone with my unspectacular game, period.”


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.